Hey all,
I have recently borrowed the McGraw-Hill 2017 cross-platform SAT prep book from the local library. There are several practice tests contained in the book. I was wondering if these tests are unique and made separately from the 6 offered by the College Board? Does MCH even have the authorization to reproduce official SAT tests?
Also, its says “Six Practice Tests!” on the cover of the MCH 2017 book, but inside I can only find 1 diagnostic test and 3 practice tests. Can anyone help me out with this?
Thanks in Advance.
McGraw Hill creates its own tests. The College Board tests are all free on the College Board Website and Khan Academy. Most of the test prep companies are only giving you some of the tests in the books and the rest are accessible online, but you need to register with them which opens you up to their repeated suggestions to take classes with them.
Bear in mind that the practice tests are there to give you repeated experience performing a relatively limited intellectual process. Certainly the reading passages need to be in the ballpark of the passage on the test, but the goal of the practice sessions should be to identify the purpose, theme, structure, organization, audience, persona of the writer, methods of development of ideas, and rhetorical devices used by the writer. They must be identified quickly and then discussed using the appropriate rhetorical terminology in an efficiently expressed and well-organized essay. I have my students first learn to find what they are looking for in the passage, then to find it quickly and then to outline a response. Repetition is the key and there are just not enough College Board passages available for the task. The point is to save the College Board materials for evaluating your progress while you practice on other passages that are reasonable approximations of the College Board’s passages.
@Wood5440 What other passages would you recommend? I recall reading somewhere that NYT op-ed articles can be used for essay analysis practice.
Try practicing with the ‘analysis’ questions you’ll find in AP English Language and Composition prep materials. The AP analysis questions are virtually identical to the SAT writing questions, and the ones written by the College Board will be reliably like the ones on the SAT. You may also find some additional suggestions about how to handle the questions in the AP prep material. The NY Times would be good practice as well, although you can expect them to be longer than the SAT passages.
@Wood5440 Can you link me to where I can find these prompts?
Thanks a ton.
Not really, except to suggest you go to Barnes and Noble or wherever else you can find them. You might find some material on the College Board or Kahn sites.